How much leave should I give to a member of staff following a bereavement?

Q. How much leave should I give to a member of staff following a bereavement?

A.

There is no legal entitlement to give a member of staff paid leave during a bereavement, therefore it is at the employers discretion in terms of what to do.

Having a clear Compassionate Leave or Bereavement policy about the approach you will take when handling requests for bereavement or compassionate leave will help.

Think about establishing criteria that depends on the closeness of the relationship between the member of staff and their deceased loved one. There is no hard and fast rule to make this simple, particularly in today's society where family relationships are less typical than they were in previous generations.

How you deal with a bereavement request can make a huge difference to the engagement that member of staff has with you and your Company once they return, so we do recommend this is handled sensitively and respectfully.

When we are constructing a staff handbook for employers, we cover off this topic and help you to establish the criteria that will suit your business operations and its culture.